DPI up-beat about Thorpdale potato trade

The Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is confident Thorpdale potatoes will be sold interstate before Christmas.

There has been a ban on interstate trading since the detection of the quarantine pest, potato cyst nematode, on a property last month.

The DPI's David Beardsell says a new draft national management plan for the industry is being distributed to other states today.

He says the plan includes labelling potatoes with a region tag so they can be traced back to where they came from.

Mr Beardsell says interstate trade is worth $50-60 million to the Thorpdale region, and time is critical.

"In the meantime, we are also writing to interstate authorities, to try and speed the process up, because the requirements to get potatoes out of the Thorpdale is getting a bit more urgent, and I think the first crops to move interstate will probably be ready in the middle of December, so we don't have a lot of time," he said.